Monday, June 25, 2007

Shuttle Landing

One of our privileges of living out in the middle of nowhere includes that ability to see some really cool things. Last Friday, we got the opportunity to see the shuttle Atlantis land here at Edwards AFB after it missed its opportunity in Florida. We loaded the kids in the car and drove over to a hill where you can see all of the flight line. At exactly 12:49PM, the shuttle appeared very high in the sky. Once it was seen it banked in from the south. We heard two sonic booms (which I must say scared the daylights out of AJ) as it continued its decent. What I was most amazed by was how fast it plumeted. It was a very fast and very steep decent but the landing was wonderful and appeared to be very smooth. When the parachute deployed, Elizabeth thought it was really cool because it was "hot pink" (actually it was red but we won't tell her). Anyway, an experience like this makes me thankful to be part of the military and live where I do.

I know it is blurry but if you look in the middle, the white dot is the shuttle when we first saw it.

The shuttle after landing. It was parked on the runway for about an hour before it was towed over to the NASA building where it is to be loaded onto the 747 and flown back to Florida.

Macrophage Activation Syndrome

After a long struggle in the hospital and a lot of uncertainty, I have recently been diagnosed with a very rare blood disorder called MAS. I am currently receiving chemotherapy and high doses of steroids as part of my treatment. The doctors are uncertain if the end treatment will be a bone marrow transplant or not.

If you would like to follow that aspect of my life, you can find all of the juicy details here.

Also, I would like to encourage you to consider registering with the National Bone Marrow Registry here. It is a very easy process.

Thank you to everyone for all of your support and prayers.

About Me

I have three beautiful children and am married to a wonderful husband and devoted father. Before my "journey" with HLH began, I worked as a nurse and turned my hobby of photography into a business. I created memories for families using the beauty of natural light and the amazing landscape of the Emerald Coast of Florida. Currently my focus is solely on my recovery and cure so that I can be here to share many more years of love and memories with my family and friends.